That really is a shame. It is always sad when any well known landmark is destroyed, no matter how big or small. I remember hearing about New Hamshire's famous "Old Man of the Mountain" collapsing several years ago and that made me sad as well.

It would be nice to say that the cathedral will be rebuilt, but with that kind of government issues, hard to say. Sounds like they're about as broken as the idiots we have over here. But to give you hope, when my dad went to Dresden, Germany in the 90's he said they were in the process of rebuilding their cathedral (from the original pieces!) that had been destroyed in WW2! The Soviets had never let them do it, so they had to wait, but they're doing it now.

I really recommend finding a local railroad modeling club. I'm sure if you tell them what you want to do, they would LOVE to help, and those guys know how to make some awesome buildings!

It's sad to see a great old historical building like that destroyed by Nature, but also it reminds us how insignificant all of wisdom and technology is in the face of the awesome power of Mother Earth.

When I went to Istanbul, I saw the massive, thick old walls of Constantinople cracked and shattered in huge cracks running from top to bottom. I questioned whether it was the artillery cannons of Mehmet III when he conquered the city in 1453?

"No", I was told; "It was an earthquake".................

Well it looks like it is official. I am glad I got to see it when it was there 

Here

Cheers, weve got a place here called iron horse hobbies (guess what they specialise in) they might be able to help. Last time i went past they have a "were still open" sign in the window.

Hey Mike- I remember when you broke the news of the quake here a year ago also.....heartbreaking. I support your idea to model the cathedral and will be looking forward to how you proceed. I'll second Gamera's suggestion of checking out model railroaders and their process of constructing buildings- I've been a longtime subscriber of Model Railroader and you may find some helpful ideas from that group.

hey... good luck man ! I will lurk and give any support or advice as I can..

Thanks for the advice.

Im thinking of using a mix of sheet styrene. Plaster of paris, and that bake-able clay stuff. Reinforcing stuff with wire and chicken wire. Hand paint where necessary. Laminate photos on where its too complex to paint. The the windows im thinking of getting the designs printed onto OHP paper (Clear plastic sheets) 

Scorpiomikey

Thanks Medicman. We (as a city) found out officially the other day that the dean of the cathedral had stood down as the dean and was going into the city council (Unopposed) Because he was sick of the beuracracy and wanted to do something about it.

Sounds like the same krap we have over here, I suspect red tape is universal everywhere. My hopes and prayers for those injured and the families of those who died on that horrible day as well as those trying to get the cathedral rebuilt.

If you need any help you might check different model railroad/railway sites including FSM's sister site. They build stuff like this all the time. In fact I've seen some cathedral models that you might be able to modify or rob parts from.

Hey Scorpiomikey,

You've got my support from across the Tasman.

I've travelled the North Island, but never been to Christchurch myself, however, i remember when news came out about the cathedral, it was a big shock over here too.  I know a numbe of people (my parents included) who recently visited the Cathedral not long before the quake.

I haven't built a building before either, but i suspect the use of strip styrene for walls and plast of paris for base is a good starting point.

You can scribe both of them to get the texture of the brickwork.

Looking forward to following this one.

Thanks Medicman. We (as a city) found out officially the other day that the dean of the cathedral had stood down as the dean and was going into the city council (Unopposed) Because he was sick of the beuracracy and wanted to do something about it.

Hey Scorp. I remember when you told us that it had happened. Such a tragedy. And those government officials, they'll get there's for not fixing that church and being greedy. Sorry but I don't know anything bout doing buildings. I'll check around for ya.

lol all good. Thanks for the support

No I haven't, didn't mean to imply that I had.  I meant more Moral support! :).  Sorry about any confusion.

Thanks guys.

Waikong, have you built model buildings like this before? If so what materials do you think i should use? Ive got alot of choices and im not sure which way to go.

It really is a shame..I think Christchurch is one of the friendlest, prettiest places I have ever visited.

It's a great project, and I can truly appreciate your personal connection to it. I was a few blocks next to the WTC site (I had a office there) the day they collaped.  So I understand fully what you mean.  Good luck with it and offer what help I can.

This is what the front of the cathedral looks like today.

Not as yet. As far as i know things are still too unstable to start work on it and nobody can agree on what to do. Ive got more photos of its current status on my camera at home. That beautiful Rosetta window in the front has now been destroyed. and every aftershock it gets worse and worse.

The problem is the city council and the heritage trust. The city council are too concerned with how much theyre getting paid (The town clerk who calls himself the city CEO is on $390,000 a year) and the Heritage trust who was meant to be in charge of all the historical buildings in chch let them get into disrepair. Now theyre standing in the way of unsafe buildings coming down. If things carry on a 5 year project to get chch operating as normal again will take 50 years.

Never been though an earthquake except a tiny one and can't even imagine what it must have been like. Not to diminish the deaths and injuries but what a shame to lose such a beautiful cathedral. Have any attempts been started to rebuild it?

I love what you're doing here, please keep us posted as you progress Mike.

Thanks for those Hurc. A story from a guy who was in cathedral square at the time. He said he looked up during the shaking and saw down the centre of the "ice cream cone" as everyone calls it. (the big blue leafy cone monstrosity) He was standing on the ground. So for it to flex that much gives you an idea of the forces involved.

It broke my heart when I heard the news...not to hijack but here are a couple I took of the cathedral on one the ODF trips.

I have relatives in Christchurch.  You've been through al lot.  Don't let anyone diminish what you've experienced unless they've lived it.

I think it's a great idea to make your model.

All the best.